The present invention relates to a carbohydrate formulation for enhancement of an immune response, a nutritional composition for enhancement of an immune response; and to the use of a prebiotic formulation in the manufacture of a medicament or nutritional composition for enhancement or improvement of an immune response to a vaccination, in particular measles vaccination, and prevention and supportive treatment of diseases and infections e.g. bacterial, viral and parasitic. The invention also relates to a method of enhancing an immune response which comprises administering an effective amount of a prebiotic mixture; and a method of prevention or supportive treatment of diseases which comprises administering an effective amount of a prebiotic formulation.
It is well known that prebiotics comprise carbohydrates and more specifically, oligosaccharides. Furthermore it is known that they have widely been used as functional food ingredients. They resist hydrolysis by enzymes of the human digestive tract, can reach the colon undegraded and provide a carbohydrate substance particularly suited to the growth of bifidobacteria. Oligosachharides may be produced from glucose, galactose, xylose, maltose, sucrose, lactose, starch, xylan, hemicellulose, inulin, or a mixture thereof. Purified commercially available products such as fructo-oligosaccharides contain greater than about 95% solids in the form of oligosaccharides.
Measles is a major public health problem, infecting approximately 70 million children annually, and it is estimated that 2 million die each year from the disease itself or its complications. In addition to fever and rash, the consequences of measles include acute diarrhea or dysentery, pneumonia, encephalitis, and blindness due to acute vitamin A deficiency. Thus in developing countries, case fatality rates may reach 10–20% (Semba R. D. Clin. Infect. Dis. 1994; 19:489–499).
Measles prevention is possible by maintaining a high level of immunization through vaccination with attenuated live vaccine. Measles vaccine is usually given at 15 months but may be given earlier (at 6–9 months of age) in areas where disease is frequently occurring and poses a threat to health and life of children. However, the response to measles vaccination at less than 12 months of age is suboptimal because infants may transplacentally acquire maternal antibodies that disappear at a variable rate. Because the seroconversion rate following immunization is not 100% and there may be some waning of immunity with time, a second immunization against measles is usually indicated.
An elevated response to early measles vaccination may therefore offer substantial and longer lasting protection until a second vaccine is administered, and the present invention provides a solution that addresses the problems set out above.